3rd & Long

Chapter 13: Offsides

Nat scanned the room trying to see if she could make sense of the man who up to this point she did her best to avoid. She saw a few different plaques hanging on the wall from when the Pioneers reached the Championship games and saw another from their super bowl run not too long ago. On the desk was a picture of what Nat could only assume was his family. It was a simple office that didn't say much beyond just how passionate he was about the San Francisco Pioneers.

Which only served to make Nat more nervous.

All that Callaghan had said to her after the Sharks game was that they would be having a meeting the next day, just the two of them. No Nick, no Stoll. Nat had a stomach ache ever since. When she got to work, everything seemed normal, with the trainers going about their usual post game routine. But right on time, Callaghan had sent Nat a message requesting she go to his office.

He had let her in but left to do... well Nat wasn't sure what, but she was grateful to at least have some moments of peace to think carefully about what she was going to say.

I don't know what Ms. Bosa told him, so I'm better off just telling the truth instead of risking getting into any more trouble.

It was quick when Callaghan re-entered the room and made his way to the large chair that sat behind the desk. Nat straightened up and made sure to look Callaghan directly in the eye. Callaghan's face was expressionless, but Nat was determined to not back down from whatever was about to happen.

Callaghan cleared his throat and began, "I thought I told you to stay away from my players."

"That's right you did. For what it's worth, I did stay away from them. I'm not now nor was I ever dating any of your players."

Callaghan's eyes looked her up and down, like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "So then are you going to explain to me why you told Ms. Bosa that you and Nick were dating?"

"That was Nick who did that, not me. Maybe you should talk to him instead."

Callaghan scoffed at the comment then went in again, "How important do you think you are to this team? Athletic trainers aren't hard to find. If you're not going to be serious, this is only going to get worse for you."

"It's already pretty bad, even I can see that. But I am being serious. Yes I was over at Nick's house. No, we aren't dating. That was his idea that I just went along with. I get it, you don't want me distracting the boys. I respect that. Last thing I want to do is distract them either. But it's my job to take care of them and Nick was sick. So I went over to his apartment and did just that. There's nothing more to it." That you need to know about at least.

Callaghan leaned back in his chair and rolled his eyes. He glanced down to his desk and Nat tried her best to read where his thoughts might be going. His expression was cold, but not angry or even frustrated. It seemed more calculating than anything else.

Callaghan looked up again and stared for a moment before speaking, "Ms. Casillas, I don't know what it is about you, but the team has taken quite the liking to you. Everyone: Giordano, Bosa, Hudson. All of your coworkers seem to really like you as well. What I don't understand is why you would go behind my back and get yourself involved in... whatever you want to call this thing between you and Bosa. I can tell you don't want to lose your job, so can you at least do me the courtesy of explaining why you keep getting caught in compromising situations with my players?"

Nat stared back at the man quietly, trying not to let her face betray any sign of what she was thinking. She knew she had to play the situation just right if she wanted to avoid escalating it, but she also knew she wanted to stand her ground.